McLaren Mercedes marketing magic
Sep 18, 2007 I Humour, Film & TV. 3,725 Views. Share This
Alonso & Lewis Hamilton star in a humorous public relations exercise. Bet it cost less than £50 million though!
Relations between Hamilton & Alonso are becoming more publicly strained , there was that pit lane incident at the Hungarian Grand Prix which lead to
We’re extremely competitive. We can’t be best friends…
Lewis Hamilton
Alonso being removed from pole position and ultimately McLaren losing all constructors points for the race.
Of course the drivers views of the incident differed considerably, well some what less after Ron Dennis collared them.
After the holiday between races Ron Dennis arranged a meet and convenient press conference for the drivers to announce a truce.
During the press conference Lewis Hamilton summed it up by saying “We’re extremely competitive. We can’t be best friends…” Alonso however, was a lot less talkative and Ron Dennis rounded of the proceedings effectively by saying
Clearly they are very competitive individuals and we believe that for the balance of the season that competitiveness will stay on the circuit.
This weekend saw more drama between the pair on corner one of the opening lap. When, to the untrained eye, it appeared that Alonso lent on Hamilton to the degree that Alonso himself mowed the astroturf in his efforts to remove Hamilton from the track.Lewis was heared to say after the race “He really cut across and pushed me wide. It was quite deliberate. I could see it”.
But that’s a whole other can of worms. Which brings us to the most recent and truly incredulous turn of events.
The Hamilton & Alonso McLaren Mercedes TV Advert.
McLaren Mercedes marketing magic in full effect..
YouTube Direct Link - Hamilton & Alonso McLaren Mercedes TV Advert
When I first saw the Hamilton & Alonso advert unfold before my eyes, I genuinely thought ‘my god what have they been up to now’? Then I began to smile which became a laugh and I was left thinking ‘Christ on a bike, what were they thinking’.
He really cut across and pushed me wide. It was quite deliberate. I could see it.Lewis Hamilton
Having now grown on me I smile every time I see it and the McLaren Mercedes marketing and PR department can sleep easy at night knowing they have assured me that Hamilton and Alonso are the best of buddies (albeit very competitive buddies).
My youngest lad has left a small grain of doubt in my mind by asking ‘how much would they have got paid to act in that , Dad?’. You don’t think they could smile and laugh together like that just because there is money involved do you?
Well do you? Your comments, on both the advert and the deal at McLaren Mercedes, are welcomed.
(4 votes, average: 3.5 out of 5)
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Gary Dixon Says:
Hamilton what a sellout!, just how many products does he has put his mug on. santander, vodafone, the list goes on….
isn’t he getting paid enough anyway?
September 18th, 2007 at 11:27 pm | Quote Gary Dixon's commentCraig Says:
Hamilton is probably on a decent wage compared to you or I, but not in comparison to what Alonso will be earning!
It was interesting to read elsewhere that David Coulthard apparently had a chat to Hamilton about concentrating on racing rather than earning money, but it would appear to have fallen on deaf ears.
Hamilton has signed a book deal to write his story so far, which surprised DC as apparently Ron Dennis isn’t keen on his drivers doing that kind of thing (obviously there’s different rules for the Golden Child!), but Lewis said he had to make his money somehow.
Too much exposure and people will be totally sick of the sight of him before much longer.
September 19th, 2007 at 10:14 am | Quote Craig's commentClive Says:
You should remember that the advert was made well before things became a bit more ummm, competitive, between Alonso and Hamilton. As for the amount of sponsorship Hamilton gets, it makes sense for him to cash in while the sun shines. The fickleness of the media ensures that he won’t be the Golden Boy forever - in fact, if he keeps winning, he’ll run into the Brit dislike of the perpetual winner (otherwise known as Schumacher Syndrome).
September 19th, 2007 at 1:30 pm | Quote Clive's commentMisfitz Says:
I agree, I love Hamilton and thought / think that he is a great racing driver who knows how to present himself correctly at such a young age. However, I have noticed that with all that he has had to learn the hard way and very fast that F1 is not as glamorous as its made out to be and I think that this has effected his confidence on and off the track.
As Clive says, its not going to be long before the good old British press but a stop to one of Britain’s best F1 drivers being the Golden Boy.
Keep your head up Hamilton.
September 19th, 2007 at 2:05 pm | Quote Misfitz's commentdeep.thought Says:
I think that the reality for Hamilton has not lived up to his dreams.
He has had to learn fast…
How long can he maintain his squeaky clean image? And as Craig said “the public will be sick of him” eventually when Clive’s Schumacher Syndrome starts to kick in. As DC knows, once the tide of opinion turns it’s very difficult to move against it.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:52 am | Quote deep.thought's commentCraig Says:
It’s a little strange that F1 isn’t what Hamilton expected.
A boy growing up in a rural area of Scotland (Coulthard) would have expected to find the world of F1 a strange place to be, yet he managed to cope not too badly when hit with the realities.
So is it not surprising that a boy groomed for this moment since he was 9, is actually surprised at what he is finding out this year now that he is there and racing in it for real? Perhaps McLaren haven’t groomed him as well as we all thought they had!
September 20th, 2007 at 11:10 am | Quote Craig's commentdeep.thought Says:
I do think that McLaren have done a superb job of grooming Lewis Hamilton. He is the consummate racer, a skilled driver and a delight with the media, competitive and cool headed.
However, did anyone really expect Hamilton to find his form ’straight out of the box’. Did McLaren realise quite how badly Alonso would react to his dramatic entrance?
I think perhaps if Hamilton had produced a more orthodox rookie year and not stood realistic expectation on it’s head, it might have been easier for Alonso to stomach.
September 20th, 2007 at 4:27 pm | Quote deep.thought's commentnick denman Says:
i don’t know about all this rivalry you i reckon they’re acting more like a couple of teenage girls than professional sportsmen. (although thats probably a slight to teenage girls the world over). still, its more entertaining than the belgian grand prix was. i was praying someone to crash
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